1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to certain new and useful improvements in winches, and more particularly, to winches which have a rotatable spool and a handle or crank arm capable of being stored within an interior portion of the spool and which is capable of being moved outwardly of the spool and releasably locked with respect to the same in order to permit rotation to thereby enable a pulling of a cord.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Manually operable winches of the type which include a rotatable spool and a crank arm for rotation thereof are used in a variety of applications. One of the common uses of winches of this type is in sailboats for purposes of obtaining a mechanical advantage in the trimming of a sail such as a fore sail.
During the steering of a sailboat, it is necessary to control the position of the fore sail in order to obtain the best wing driving efficiency. Consequently the operator of the sail boat must constantly re-position the fore sail relative to the boat as the boat is being steered. Since the operator must pull the rope connected to the fore sail, often referred to as a "jib sheet" against a substantial wind force, a mechanical advantage is needed. This is particularly true in heavy wind conditions.
When the operator is trimming the sail, there may be an initial amount of slack in the rope and this slack may be wound about the spool of the winch by hand. Since the winch handle may be of substantial length to obtain the desired mechanical advantage, it is necessary to remove the handle when rope is wound about the winch and drawn by hand. Otherwise, the handle would get in the way of the operator who is self winding the initial amount of rope about the winch spool. Further, the rope itself may engage the winch handle and cause an inadvertent separation of the winch handle from the winch. This may cause a resultant loss of the handle by being thrown overboard or at least to a position where it is not immediately available to the operator in the process of trimming a sail.
Winches of this type are also effective for other purposes in sailboats. For example, they may be used in the raising of an anchor or as a type of brake in the case of lowering an anchor.
These winches, when used with sailboats, usually present a bulky and space consuming structure. In addition, since a substantial lever arm is often required to obtain the necessary mechanical advantage, the crank arm must have a length which is also substantial relative to the size of the spool. Since these winches are frequently mounted on a boat deck or side wall of the boat, usually referred to as a "gunwale", the crank arm is obtrusive and usually gets in the way which can oftentimes result in accidents. Accordingly, it is also desirable to remove the winch crank arm when not in use to preclude accidents and injury.
One significant problem with the removeable winch handle is that it can oftentimes be misplaced and lost among myriads of other implements normally found on sailboats. Furthermore, there is usually a substantial amount of movement and physical activity and therefore a tendency for the winch handle to be inadvertently dislodged and perhaps to be inadvertently shoved overboard. Due to the fact that most winch handles are constructed of a heavy metal, they will rapidly sink and accordingly, if the sailboat user does not have an auxiliary winch handle, he may find himself in a difficult position to perform the necessary functions on the sailboat, or more importantly, to even control the sailboat as may be required. U.S. Pat. No. 3,685,761 to Zelinski discloses a fishing reel assembly in which a fishing line or cord is paid out from and spooled upon a fishing reel spool. The support shaft which holds this supply spool is extensible.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,460,216 to Dalton discloses a universal joint in which a handle is capable of being pivoted and is capable of engaging a slot in a socket. U.S. Pat. No. 2,519,536 to Barbagelata discloses a hand tool having a bar which is capable of engaging notches in a hand tool assembly. U.S. Pat. No. 4,368,856 to Neufeld discloses a folding crank handle on a fishing reel.
Heretofore, there has not been any winch which is capable of having a winch handle collapsed and stored in the spool of the winch and removeable therefrom for releasable locking to the winch for rotating same. OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide a winch having a spool and a crank arm which is capable of being stored within the spool when not in use.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a winch of the type stated in which the crank arm of the winch is telescopically collapsable with respect to the spool of the winch.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a winch of the type stated in which a hand grip is pivotally mounted on the crank arm so as to be moved into and located in a plane which is parallel to the axis of rotation of the winch spool.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a winch of the type stated which can be manufactured at a relatively low unit cost.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a winch of the type stated which is designed for use in and is highly effective for use on sailboats.
With the above and other objects in view, my invention resides in the novel features of form, construction, arrangement and combination of parts presently described and pointed out in the claims.